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Topic: Pomegranate trunk size (Read 3906 times)

There is an article at http://kuromatsubonsai.com/deciduous-bonsai/pomegranate-bonsai/ which states "If you find a well shaped specimen with a thick trunk, start shaping your bonsai. Otherwise, fatten it up until the trunk reaches the desired caliper, because Pomegranates do not thicken once they are placed in a bonsai pot." This doesn't seem valid to me. Any input on this statement?

It's not that it won't increase in size, it the TIME it will take to increase in size. Not only true of poms, but of all trees put into smaller containers.

You can't grow diameter into a trunk effectively in a container. Pots restrict growth, which is one reason why finished bonsai are put in them--it stops the tree from growing too quickly and coarsely.

The thought isn't that the tree will stop thickening completely, it is that it won't do it with any dramatic results. The process is grow the trunk out in the ground or in a larger growing container to achieve the desired trunk caliper at ground level, chop it back, develop a new apex THEN put it into a "show container."

Jim Barrett here in California had two pretty well known pomegranates that have recently sold. He has worked on them in a pot since 1969. The trunks changed quite a bit in size over those 44 years. So if you have time like this on your hands do what Jim did otherwise what the author said about fattening up the trunk to the desired caliper then putting in a pot is the way to go as it is more like a 5-10 year plan.

this is true for any tree that is root-resticted in a small bonsai pot, not just poms. The trunk will grow, but very slowly. If you are wanting to develop trunks, you have to do it in the ground, a grow-box or a large pot.

you can, however, thicken a particular branch if the tree is in a pot using the usual methods. I doubled the size of a branch on a pommy this summer by letting a sacrafice leader grow wild for the whole spring and summer.